Outside Interactions

The CAER and the Carbon Materials Group hosted the Spring CPCPC Meeting, April
12-13 at the Hyatt Regency Hotel.

Attendees toured the Center on the afternoon
of April12th. Rodney presented three project overviews at the meeting.

On April 6 a meeting was arranged in Pittsburgh between representatives of the Coal Fuel Alliance (Purdue, SIU and CAER) and senior staff, including the Director, of the National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL). The DOE staff was informed of the intent of the Coal Fuel Alliance members to move forward to obtain appropriation for the CFA as per the authorization in the Energy Bill of 2005.

The director was asked to discuss aspects of Coal to Liquids technologies to various audiences during April. On 4/7 he made a presentation to the Energy Committee of the National Council of State Legislators. He and Jim Neathery presented at a workshop on Coal Utilization Technologies for the Appalachian Section of the Society of Mining Engineers in Lexington and also made a presentation at the Annual Kentucky Geological Survey (KGS) symposium, giving an overview of the energy related research at CAER.

In addition, he was invited to present testimony on Coal to Liquids, and specifically the need for further research in this field, before the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. This testimony received coverage in the press and subsequent questions from senators were also submitted to be replied to for the record.

On March 16, 2006, members of the WOCA logistics committee visited sites in
Northern Kentucky in preparation for the 2007 WOCA conference. Marybeth
McAlister, Alice Marksberry, Eva Brown and Laura Amos from CAER, Geaunita Caylor
from the UK College of Engineering, and Dave Goss and Annely Noble from ACAA
visited the Northern Kentucky Convention Center, the RiverCenter Marriott,
Embassy Suites, and Holiday Inn for location information and planning.

Educational Outreach

Marybeth McAlister met with Maxine Rudder of Bluegrass PRIDE to discuss a energy
conservation and recycling program for Russell Cave School. This would complement
CAER's ongoing educational outreach program with the 4th grade class.

Sarah Mardon and Jen O'Keefe received awards from the UK Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences (formerly Geological Sciences) through their Brown-McFarlan Fund for non-field related research and travel. CAER scientist, Jim Hower, is Sarah and Jen's advisor. Both are completing large portions of their research in the CAER petrography lab. Jen's dissertation research is on the petrography and palynology of Claiborne Group lignites in Western Kentucky. Her award will support the preparation of polished block samples for lignite petrography. Sarah's thesis research is on the potential for coalbed methane production and carbon dioxide sequestration in Western Kentucky. Her award supports travel to and analyses at the Indiana Geological Survey where she is conducting adsorption, porosity, and surface area analyses, and for her attendance at the Pittsburgh Coal Conference in the fall.

In addition, Both Jen O'Keefe and Sarah Mardon received the Medlin Scholarship Award from
the Geological Society of America Coal Geology Division. This will fund research and provide support to travel to the 2007 national GSA meeting in Denver.

General CAER News

The CAER has a new one-year visiting scientist. Dr. Arumugam Pandurangan is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry from the Department of Chemistry at the Anna University in India. His area of research is nanotechnology and catalysis. While at CAER, he will work with Dr. Mark Crocker on environmental catalysis projects and nanotube research.

Staff Accolades

Jim Hower participated in The Society for Organic Petrology's mid-year council
meeting (conference call) on March 10, 2006.